Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government has accredited 15 new Sabah Gender Focal Points (SGFP) trainers as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen gender mainstreaming and advance an inclusive, progressive and sustainable development agenda across the state.
The newly accredited trainers received their credentials during the Gender Leadership Aspirations Night and Train the Trainers (TTT) Sabah Gender Focal Points Cohort 3 Accreditation Ceremony organised by the Sabah Women’s Affairs Department (Jhewa) at the Sheraton Hotel, Kota Kinabalu.
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The ceremony was officiated by Minister of Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Datuk Julita Majungki and held to celebrate participants who successfully completed a series of structured training programmes to become certified trainers under the ministry through Jhewa.
In her speech, Julita said the event was not merely an accreditation ceremony but a manifestation of the Sabah Government’s continuous commitment to strengthening gender mainstreaming as a key component of inclusive, progressive and sustainable state development.
She said gender equality is no longer a peripheral issue but has become an integral part of mainstream development that requires collective attention and action.
“Gender empowerment is not solely a women’s issue. It is a development agenda that encompasses social justice, community wellbeing, economic productivity and the effectiveness of public service delivery systems,” she said.
Julita said international studies have shown that organisations practising gender equality perform better, make higher-quality decisions and are more capable of addressing future challenges.
She said integrating gender perspectives into policies and programmes is no longer an option but a strategic necessity to ensure no group is left behind in the development process.
The minister added that the Sabah Government, through the Ministry of Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing, remains committed to translating gender equality principles into policies, programmes and public services in line with the Sabah Maju Jaya development agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) on Gender Equality.
However, she stressed that gender mainstreaming cannot be shouldered by a single ministry or agency alone, but requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach involving ministries, government departments, agencies, the private sector, educational institutions, civil society organisations and local communities.
Julita described the Sabah Gender Focal Points programme as a strategic initiative aimed at producing competent and credible officers capable of integrating gender perspectives into organisational planning and implementation.
She said the accredited trainers would serve as facilitators, internal consultants and agents of change who would help organisations incorporate gender perspectives into planning, implementation, monitoring and programme evaluation processes to ensure initiatives benefit all segments of society fairly and equitably.
